Happy Belated Valentine's Day!!!

Hugs and kisses to all!!!

I was trying to be creative and take some fun Valentine's Day pictures of the boys for their grandparents. However, the boys would not cooperate so I had to bring in the reserves (Dad) to help out. We finally got a few cute shots so I thought I would share them with you all.

I thought this was the cutest of all!

The boys wanted to eat the cards instead of pose with them. Who can blame 'em?!

Daddy gets involved to try to help the boys stay focused. I don't think you can use focused and 8 month old twins in the same sentence!

Sneaky Chooch...

The boys' room is right off of our kitchen. A lot of times, I will put some toys down in their room while I start dinner and just check on them frequently. The other day, I promise I was gone for 20 seconds and I come back in to check on them. I found Caleb sitting up with his train, but Chooch was no where to be found. My heart sunk into my stomach, but before I could really freak out I heard a noise from underneath the crib. Chooch was in the far corner just hanging out...when I looked at him, he just grinned at me...two words...DOUBLE TROUBLE!

Guilty as charged!!!

Just hanging out...:)

Utah 2009

We were so blessed to be able to go to Park City, Utah for a week with the Davis' family. It was so much fun to get to spend the week with them and all 4 boys kept us busy and laughing the entire trip. Thankfully, Tim's parents were there for some baby time and it was so great to have 4 more hands on deck with all the munchkins! Brian and Tim skied several days while Jeanette and I vegged at the house with the boys. We would coordinate all the kids nap times in the afternoons so we could watch T.V. and hang out for some girl time which included some shopping and pedicures. The 2 couples even managed a fun date night downtown Park City which doesn't happen in Fort Worth (thanks to Tim's parents watching the kids).It could not have been a more relaxing, enjoyable time with "family." We are treasuring every second we have with the Davis' clan as they are moving to start a R.U.F. (Reformed University Fellowship) this summer at Purdue University. We are so happy for them and excited to see what God is going to do in their lives. We are certainly going to miss them more than words can describe, though! Okay, I'm going to stop being sappy now...enjoy the pics!

Dustin, Caleb, and Matthew with Jack in the back overseeing things...

Date night for the couples!!!

We had GREAT snow in Park City...the boys bundled up in their bear suits!

Dustin, Chooch, and Cabers...watch out!!!

Grandpa and Chooch & GranMary and Cabers hanging tight...

Jack is all bundled up for his snow day...he was a legend on the trip...SOOO funny! He loved the snow!

Jeanette with Jack, Caleb, and Dus...there was a lot of child swapping going on!

It was kind of a circus at the airport, but not nearly as crazy as it could have been! We had a delay on the way home, which is always tough with kiddos. But, overall the 4 kiddos were troopers...

Oldie but a Goodie

I thought I would share this picture as it has been serving as my background picture on my desktop for almost a month now (thanks Jeanette). It is a bit old as the "Chooch" still has his helmet, but it gets me so excited everytime I see it. Caleb has a deer in the headlights look going and Matthew is in between bites of his fingers.

They have already grown up so much, but we try really hard to savor every sweet moment with them because we know one day we will have to stop calling them "twinkers" in public. One day they will start crawling, one day they will start walking, one day they will start school, one day they will play little league baseball, one day they will go off to college and one day they will get married and we will be replaced as the most important people in their lives...but praise the Lord those days are not here yet and we can enjoy these sweet boys just as they are right now!! It feels like every stage they get to is beyond anything I could ever have imagined.

Ready for the church nursery...

Well, we finally took the plunge and sent our kiddos to the church nursery a few weeks ago. At 7 1/2 months, it was that time. We have been bringing the kids into the service with us since they were 2 months old and started coming to church. However, the days of them sleeping through the service or minding their own business are OVER! The thing that sent us over the edge this past Sunday was when Caleb starting grunting out loud and his face turned red...we (as well as the pews around us) knew that he was trying to take care of some personal business so I quietly escaped to the back of the church as my face turned bright red. Tim was already out in the foyer with Matthew who had been cooing at people around him. I asked Tim if he thought it was time for the nursery and he replied, "YES!" Thankfully, there were 2 familiar faces in there who were so excited to see our boys so we left them there with no worries. When we went to pick them up, the ladies said that the boys' first trip was uneventful and they had a great time...what a relief! We'll be back for round #2 next week!!! The boys bundled up in their navy fleece sweaters for the cold weather outside...

Daddy and the boys before church....

Two to kiss, Two to hug, Thank you God for Two to love...

Sometimes I think, "Life cannot get any better than this..." when I am holding these two precious kiddos in my lap and they look up and grin at me. And then, the very next day they will do something that makes me laugh out loud or tear up and it makes me excited all over again. We have such a creative, wonderful God.

Sure, there are really hard moments like when both kids are covered in carrots and sputtering the remainder of them on to my shirt...or when they are both crying at once and there is only one of me...or when they don't nap during the day...or when they both start screaming in the middle of Target when I have a cart full of groceries...But, it is all worth it of course. I know that I need to treasure these moments because they are only this little "once."

I think I am getting a little sentimental because I have been going through some of the kids things from the NICU that I am making into a scrapbook. I found their two little blankies that I slept with the night that I gave birth to them and then sent to Cooks for them to snuggle up with the following night. The idea was for them to learn my scent and get to know their mom, even though we were separated. I remember praying and begging God to let Matthew and Caleb make a full recovery and just dreaming of what it would be like to hold them in my arms. Now, sometimes when I look at them, I just get overcome with emotion thinking about what a blessing they are to our entire family. We are so thankful for them and I don't think I will ever take for granted getting to hold them in my arms.

With that being said, they are sweet, but SOOO ornery, too! They are changing so much every day and showing more and more of their independence and strong wills. Matthew now throws mini-tantrums if we take away his sippy cup at the table and Caleb loves to take toys from Matthew when they are playing on the floor together which really gets Chooch going!

Matthew grins and makes funny noises at Caleb all the time, but Caleb is more interested in everything else besides his brother right now. They both laugh out loud when tickled right below their chest and love it when their Dad sings them silly songs. They have started sitting up on their own with us nearby to make sure they don't tip over and crash too hard.

One of our favorite times is reading stories with them. They love to touch the pages and get excited when we talk in funny voices. They now know when it's time for bed because as soon as we walk in their room and turn on their "nap music" and give them their blankie/lovee, they start to pucker up. The crying lasts for about a minute, and then they crash. I think they are so active when they are awake that they sleep pretty hard! Here are some pics below of the boys eating at a restaurant and then hanging out playing...

Chooch is in his big boy seat at the table...

Cabers is ready for some grub!




Does it get any sweeter than this? Maybe equally as sweet in the picture below..:)

Caleb is full of JOY...you can't tell in this picture, but his hair sticks STRAIGHT up! It's so funny!

GO FROGS

Here are a two pictures from Dad's camera over the last few weeks that I just downloaded to my computer.

They have both become pretty smiley lately. In fact, Matthew has completely changed his personality and now smiles and laughs even more than his brother.

This is Matthew getting a bath from mommy.